Policy co-design to improve services

The transformational changes occurring in the disability sector in Australia are a rich opportunity to learn how giving away power can make organisations stronger and more sustainable.

Regardless of their motivation, organisations operationalising the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) are charged with the responsibility of ensuring service quality and availability. Sector leaders are listening and embracing co-design of services. For some, it is about putting principles into practice and ensuring people have direct input. Others are leveraging the person-centred rhetoric of choice and control into their brand as part of a large-scale marketing strategy. Either way, many organisations are taking action to ensure people with disability have more say about the nature of their services. What of organisational systems and the operational policies and procedures that govern how a provider operates?